Steroid drugs are inexpensive, widely available and have been used for decades. They reduce inflammation, which sometimes develops in coronavirus patients as the immune system overreacts to fight the infection. This overreaction damages the lungs and can prove fatal. These drugs are not the same type of steroids that are used or misused for athletic performance.

In June, a large study led by the University of Oxford found that a steroid called dexamethasone cut deaths by up to 35 per cent in hospitalised COVID-19 patients who needed treatment with breathing machines and by 20 per cent in those only needing extra oxygen. It did not help less sick patients and might even have even been harmful at that stage of illness.

The results changed care immediately and prompted many other studies that were testing steroids to stop, so more people could be given the drug. The new analysis looked at results from six of those studies that were stopped early plus severe patients in the Oxford study to see if all types of steroids were similarly effective, and concluded they are.

There were 222 deaths among the 678 patients given a steroid and 425 deaths among the 1025 patients given placebos or just usual care.

"I'm delighted," said Dr Derek Angus, critical care chief at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre, who helped lead one of the studies.

"It's incredibly reassuring that the other trials all were lining up in the same direction. It's the most solid news we've had yet on how to take care of patients with COVID-19."

Mark Shannon, a 61-year-old retired bank teller from Pittsburgh who spent 11 days on a breathing machine, received the steroid hydrocortisone in the study and recovered.

His doctor told him "that was pretty stupendous" to recover from so long on a ventilator, he said.

"I realise how close I came to losing my life," he said.

Treatment guidelines in the US now recommend dexamethasone or others only when it's not available for hospitalised COVID-19 patients needing extra oxygen, but that could change with the new information.

Former Italian PM Berlusconi tests positive

Italy's former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has tested positive for COVID-19 after a precautionary check, his press office said on Wednesday.

Berlusconi, who is 83, is currently isolated in his Arcore residence near Milan, his office said, adding that he will continue to work from there as he completes the necessary quarantine period.

The three-time premier and media tycoon had been recently pictured with an old friend, businessman Flavio Briatore, who was hospitalised after testing positive to COVID-19 last month. Berlusconi had tested negative at the time.

Berlusconi has recently gained new attention on Italy’s political scene ahead of regional elections in late September, when his centrist Forza Italia party could prove crucial for a possible win of the centre-right opposition.

France's new COVID-19 infections near all-time high

Daily new COVID-19 infections in France neared an all-time high on Wednesday and the number of people hospitalised in intensive care units for the disease grew at its fastest pace in almost two months.

"The virus keeps spreading in the country," French health authorities said in a statement, adding roughly a fifth of France's departments – or administrative districts – were affected by an "active circulation of the disease".

There were 7017 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Wednesday, just below the March 31 peak of 7578 and only the third time since the beginning of the outbreak that the daily tally has stood above 7000.

The seven-day moving average of new infections, which smoothes out reporting irregularities, stood at a record of 5634 and remained above the 5000 threshold for the fourth day in a row, versus a low of 272 on May 27 – two weeks after authorities lifted a two-month-long lockdown.

The cumulative number of cases now totals 293,024.

As the surge in infections has mainly affected young people, who are less likely to develop complications linked to the disease, there has been no new strain on the French hospital system, which was almost overwhelmed at the end of March.

But after steadily declining for months after an April 14 peak of 32,292, the number of people hospitalised for the disease was up by 28 on Wednesday, at 4632, increasing for a fifth day in a row, a sequence unseen seen mid-April.

Turkey seeing second peak of COVID-19 outbreak

Turkey is seeing the second peak of the coronavirus outbreak due to "carelessness" at weddings and other social gatherings, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Wednesday, amid a rapid rise in the number of daily cases and deaths.

Speaking after a meeting of his coronavirus science team, Koca said the capital Ankara had seen the most rapid rise in the number of cases lately. He added that 29,865 healthcare workers had contracted the virus so far, with 52 of them dying.

"The outbreak is increasingly continuing. The virus is spreading to more people each day. Our test numbers are rising every day, our new patient numbers are not falling," Koca said.

The number of new COVID-19 cases rose by 1596 to 273,301 in the last 24 hours, according to Health Ministry data, while the death toll from the virus rose by 45 to 6462. Total recoveries stood at 246,876, the data showed.

AP, Reuters